FRIDAY’s decision to extend the deadline on a proposed split of $600 million in local sales tax revenue is good news.

That’s because it means elected officials who represent Savannah, Chatham County and the county’s seven smaller municipalities got more time to work out a deal. Otherwise, a judge who’s not from this area — Senior Superior Court Judge Robert Adamson of Winder — will make the call following a trial in this high-stakes political dispute that’s scheduled to begin March 4. Then all the parties will have to live with his decision for the next 10 years — whether they like it or not.

To his credit, Judge Adamson, who is overseeing this dispute, granted the cities’ request to extend the deadline for submitting proposals on how the tax revenue should be distributed. The proposals are now due Feb. 8, a week past the original deadline.

City Attorney Brooks Stillwell said Savannah needed the extra time to finish preparing briefs and documents. The cities rejected the latest offer from the county last month. This proposal would have increased the total share for Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island and Vernonburg.

Savannah, however, would still have seen its cut reduced from 67 percent to 38 percent. That’s similar to the county’s original offer during failed negotiations last year. The offer was only good through Jan. 24.

Mr. Stillwell said the cities did not consider the offer from the county to be serious.

All the municipalities apparently remain united, rebuffing the county’s proposed percentage made to any of the municipalities that wished to accept it. The fact that not one of them bit on the county’s offer should be additional incentive for all parties to negotiate in good faith and try to cut a deal. It beats rolling the dice on what a judge might decide. It’s also what responsible leaders should do.